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Food & Drink

Quick and Easy Ways to Eat More Plants

Becky Alexander shows us how we can introduce more plants into our meals, cutting our carbon footprint while exploring delicious new dishes.

10 Easy Ways to Reduce Food Waste

Caroline Wilson gives us 10 top tips on reducing food waste at home – cutting both our carbon footprint and our living costs at the same time.

GET INFORMED ABOUT THE ISSUE:

A great place to start is Love Food Hate Waste. In UK households we waste 6.5 million tonnes of it every year, 4.5 million of which is edible. The average family of four can save just over £60 per month by reducing their food waste.

If you want to dig deep and read more, read the Wrap research report from 2020 here. (Wrap are the organisation behind Love Food Hate Waste and other campaigns.)

This interactive tool from the BBC lets you find out the environment impact of the foods you regularly eat. Have a play!

READ: our recent blog “Ten easy ways to cut food waste“, packed with practical tips.

LISTEN: to Caroline Wilson of Living Off the Cupboard in this special #CountdownToCOP Radio Verulam podcast talking about Cutting Food Waste

WATCH:

Start with this short film from the BBC (5mins) which gives a quick overview of the link between food and climate change.

Got a little longer? Catch up with these recordings of great talks and videos, created for SustFest21:

Photo by Julia Kicova on Unsplash

FIND RECIPES AND TIPS:

Some examples of a £4 Magic Bag from
Simply Fresh Hatfield using the Too Good to Go App

TRY OUT FOOD WASTE APPS AND SITES:

You can rescue food from the supply chain using the Too Good To Go App. Buy a Magic Bag of surprise food close to it’s sell by date from grocery stores, restaurants and cafes, at about a quarter to a third of its original cost, or sometimes even better. 

Also, check out the Olio app where you can both share with, and rescue food from, your neighbours.

Try Oddbox for fruit and veg that doesn’t meet supermarket standards but is still perfectly edible. (It’s worth asking around for a referral code.)

Bread rescued and shared by Sopwell Community Trust.

FIND LOCAL GROUPS:

Search online for local social enterprises near you which are joining the movement to reduce food waste including Community Fridges, Food Schemes, and Community Cafes.  For example, you can become Bread Buddy for the Sopwell Community Trust, redistributing bread in the community. 

The Sparks Community Café in Hatfield often rescues food close to their sell by dates from supermarkets such as Waitrose, which can then be bought on a “pay what you can” basis, and sometimes is free.

Join local Facebook Group Living off the Cupboard, where they share recipes and ideas.

Try a cookery class from The Cobbled Kitchen.

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Fruit, Veg & Wildlife in a Smaller Garden

Insects are attracted by profusely flowering plants such as the hot-lips salvia, while bug and bee hotels offer them the chance to stay and to hibernate. Similarly, the small pond attracts newts and frogs and a nearby pile of old wood and tiles gives them somewhere to over-winter.